Was Lawrence of Arabia castrated when he was captured by the Turks?

No, I don't think so. He was tortured and in the full director's cut of David Lean's film, there is a definite hint at a sadistic torture. T.E. Laurence was probably a repressed homo-sexual, but there is no real hints of this. However, after the desert, Lawrence joined the RAF as a ranked airman and kept a diary called THE MINT which is available in any bookshop. He makes no mention of Castration in this otherwise searingly honest diary, that he had no in tention of publishing. So, I would say that he was NOT>

No that is not correct.

In "Seven Pillars," Lawrence claims that, while reconnoitering Deraa in Arab disguise, he was captured and tortured. Many critics have read this account as describing homosexual rape, and have used this to suggest that Lawrence was homosexual. However, Lawrence displayed an evident disgust at the whole affair, and likely (if it be true) the act of homosexuality. The facts of the event, beyond reported accounts that Lawrence did bear the scars of whippings from some period, are unrecoverable. Lawrence's own statements and actions concerning the incident were ambiguous, contributing to the confusion. For example, he removed from his war diary the page containing the daily entries for the November 1917 week in question, so that no one ever saw that page and whatever words it may have contained about Deraa.

In the book "T.E. Lawrence by His Friends," many of Lawrence's friends are adamant that he was not homosexual but simply had little interest in the topic of sex. Not one of them suspected him of homosexual inclinations. Like many of the time, T.E. Lawrence had little pressure to pursue women, and most of his time was devoted to other activities.

This is more likely to explain his lack of wife and children than castration.

Lawrence Of Arabia Torture

Hey, What books does your friend read? That's a new one on me as well. I saw the film back in the 70's with Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence and there was certainly no reference to it in that film. He was beaten about a bit but survived, only to die from not wearing a crash helmet on the country lanes on his 'moped'!

It would have been more than uncomfortable to ride a motorbike if he had been doctored, so I don't think that your friend is being totally serious with you. Maybe there is a little bit of jealousy there. After all Lawrence was a good looking sort of guy - maybe your friend isn't :-)

I don't think so as he had some children afterwards. D H Lawrence was his name by the way and he wrote some very interesting books, He was raped do so maybe that is where your friend got that idea, A number of months ago I heard his grandson on the radio, but can't tell you what his name is.